And... the prize vault is open and today we're giving away a copy of Mary Connealy's Out of Control! Just comment! Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.

Heart-To-Heart Contest. Deadline August 15, Electronic. Enter the scene(s) in which the hero and heroine meet for the first time or for the first time in the book, if previously acquainted, up to a maximum of 15 pages. Each entry may only be entered in one category. However, you may submit as many different entries as you wish. Each new entry must have a contest entry form and payment. The top three finalists in each category will have their entries read by a literary agent, a traditional publishing house editor and an e-publishing editor. Categories: Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical, Erotic, Young Adult.

No editors names listed but for $15 bucks this may be a good test-the-waters contest to enter.

Golden Pen.Electronic Deadline August 15. This contest closely parallels the Golden Heart and is presented by the Golden Network of past Golden Heart finalists. Entry shall include a synopsis plus manuscript pages, together totaling not more than 55 pages. The synopsis may not be longer than 10 pages.

The Beacon Award for Unpublished Authors.Deadline August 31st. Electronic Contest. Open to all authors of romantic fiction, not contracted/published in book length fiction (40,000 words and over) in the last 3 years. RWA membership is not required for entry. Contest is limited to the first 125 entries. First 30 pages with optional synopsis (synopsis will not be judged, but should be included within the page count constraints).

Hot Prospects.Electronic Deadline and Postmarked Deadline September 1st. This contest is open to both published and unpublished authors. Entry consists of a synopsis (up to five pages) and the first 25 pages of the manuscript.

Finally a Bride. Electronic Deadline September 2. Each manuscript must have finaled, but not won in a previous RWA or RWA chapter-sponsored contest. Submit the first thirty pages of your manuscript. The first place winner in each category will receive a lovely engraved knife and cake server, suitable for cutting the cake in celebration of THE CALL. In addition, any book that is published as a result of this contest will receive a free entry into the National Readers' Choice Award the first year of eligibility. TWO EDITORS JUDGES EACH CATEGORY.

Gateway to the Best. Deadline September 9. Electronic only. The Grand Prize winner will receive US $100, a full reading and critique of her entire manuscript by a MORWA Published Author, a certificate, and a "Gateway to the Best Grand Prize Winner" electronic banner announcing the win for the author's website. Submit up to the first 7000 words (approx 25-28 pages) of manuscript.The final judges for each category are:

WOW: Women On Writing Fiction Quarterly Contest:June - August 31st, Midnight (Pacific Time). "WOW! hosts a (quarterly) writing contest every three months. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, communication, and well-rewarded recognition to contestants. The contest is open globally; age is of no matter; and entries must be in English. They are open to all styles of writing, although they do encourage you to take a close look at the guest judge for the season and the flavor of our sponsor, if you are serious about winning. They love creativity, originality, and light-hearted reads. That's not to say that the guest judge will feel the same... so go wild! Express yourself, and most of all, have some fun!"

Maximum: 750--Minimum: 250 The title is not to be counted in your word count. Use MS Word's word count to determine the submitted entry's word count.Open Prompt: Open to any style and genre. From horror to romance!

When did you first understand the meaning of love? Maybe you were a child, witnessing a generous act by your father or mother. Maybe the lesson came later, as you grappled with the challenges of being a friend, a spouse, or a parent yourself. Whatever made you understand love—and yourself—better, tell us about it.

Win round-trip tickets for two to New York City, hotel accommodations for two nights, tickets to a Broadway play, and a lunch with Real Simple editors

Receive a prize of $3,000

To enter, send your typed, double-spaced submission (1,500 words maximum, preferably in a Microsoft Word document) to lifelessons@realsimple.com. Contest begins at 12:01 A.M. EST on May 3, 2011, and runs through 11:50 P.M. EST on September 15, 2011. Open to legal residents of the United States age 19 or older at time of entry. Void where prohibited by law. (Entries will not be returned.)

Good Housekeeping's Short Story Contest-Enter your story for a chance to win $3,000 and be published in the May 2012 issue! Submit a short story, no longer than 3,500 words, to fictioncontest@goodhousekeeping.com. Your story should reflect an aspect of women's lives today. Please include the title of your story in the subject line. Submissions must be an original work of fiction, not previously published or a finalist for any other prize or award. Please include your full name, address, daytime phone number, and email address. Deadline September 1. Rules are here.

Launching A Star – Yes (again because it doesn’t specify but it says open to ‘any’)

Golden Pen – Yes

Golden Palm – Yes (doesn’t specify but says open to ‘all’)

Heart to Heart – Doesn’t specify so I’m thinking yes

I'm going to get brave and enter at least one...My WIP is still being operated upon but I'm hoping to have her all sewn up by the end of the month. And I noticed that one doesn't require a synopsis -- now that's mighty attractive. LOL.

Please don't enter me in the Out of Control contest because I'm reading it right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe what Mary did to Audra. That's just plain mean.

Good morning, Seekerville! I see it's time again for entering "The Golden Pen." Fabulous contest with very helpful feedback. This is the contest that I entered in 2008---it led to a 1st place win and Senior Editor-Judge Melissa Endlich asking to see the full manuscript. That's how I sold my first book!

Thanks for all the great contest info! However I don't think I wanted to know that there are only 141 days left till Christmas. That means that there are only 148 days left of 2011. Where did the year go?

Thanks for this contest update, Tina! Until I began visiting Seekerville, I had NO IDEA there were so many contests available to unpubbed. writers--WOW! ~ LOVE the cute pics of Snoopy--he's my all-time favorite character (even though he's not a feline,LOL).~ Christmas? Seems like I just put away Christmas decorations from 2010 *sigh*. ~ Happy Friday to all, and enjoy some Georgia Pecan Pie, along with a large tray of Chick-fil-a nuggets (Truett Cathy lives not too far from me, and has an awesome grill where we're frequent diners!). ~ Blessings, Patti Jo :)

I had no clue that there were so many writing contests out there until I started reading this blog! I have a few more months to get feedback from my first one...a little nervous about that. I know it'll be great experience, though. Thanks for all the great info! I'd love to read Out of Control! ~Staceytravelingstacey(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Oooh, I'm so tempted!! Even though I said I was done. I finaled in The Fab Five and the Tara (winners not announced yet) but it sure took a chunk out of my funds... But maybe, just maybe I'll just enter ONE MORE, itty bitty, teeny tiny contest... I need to call the contest addiction help line.

SHERI-- I used to have a TERRIBLE time writing a coherent synopsis until I started breaking it down into 3-4 sections. First a 1-2 page(double spaced)section on the hero's (or heroine's) situation up until the time the story starts. Then same thing for their romantic counterpart.

Next I launch into the "as the story opens" situation and go from there touching on the MAIN plot scenes, turning points, and character development.

Because I already laid the foundation of the hero and heroine's character, background, goals and motivation in their own sections, it's very evident with the opening paragraphs of the 3rd section that they have a conflict. So I don't have to stop and explain all their backstory in the middle of the "action." Trying to do that is what always messed me up and made things sound too convoluted and confusing.

Now it's "clean" and straightforward as I can keep moving ahead with the basic plot/character development without explanatory "asides." I've sold 4 books to Love Inspired using that synopsis format and so far no complaints--and few or no requested revisions to it from my editor!

I sometimes add a 4th section that's just a few lines long outlining what happens in the epilogue of a Love Inspired, just to wrap things up.

Glynna Kaye, here I was thinking I would pass on this great list of contests, then you go and pump me up for the Golden Pen AND give such a succinct explanation of writing a synopsis. Now I have no excuse!

Except maybe that it's 10 days away...

And RUTHY - I'm with you on the no free weekends in the summer. So what if there's a pile of boxes in the garage to unpack? We're going to have months of snowy, cold, blizzardy weather to do that kind of work in! Summertime is playtime!

SORRY JAN to wave the Golden Pen under your nose like a carrot! I did get great feedback from that one. The cool thing about this particular contest is that if you final, you receive your feedback before your entry is forwarded to the finals judge. You get about a week to incorporate any of that feedback into your entry if you so choose.

I was very fortunate to have several awesome preliminary judges provide insightful feedback, so my entry was in top form by the time it reached the Steeple Hill editor-judge.

KC -- Glad that synopsis tip helped! Believe me, I STRUGGLED for years trying to write a coherent synopsis. Now I actually ENJOY writing them and they've become a WONDERFUL compass that I follow as I progress through my WIP.

Glynna, feedback is why I enter contests! I've been going through my WIP page by page, incorporating the great comments judges have given me and analyzing why they commented the way they did. It's slow, but I can see my story unfolding in a way it never did before!

JAN - contest feedback is really what upgraded my writing craft skills. I owe so many judges so much for encouragement and their courage to deliver news that I may not always have wanted to hear. But they helped me see my stories through a reader's eyes and provided insights on how to fix things that only another writer might understand how to address.

Glynna, that is SUCH a good synopsis idea! I would nevre have thought of doing a page on the hero, and then a page on the heroine, and then go on to where the story starts. That makes me want to pull up my synopsis and work on it! And Ruthy, you made me grin when you used synopses and synopsis in the SAME SENTENCE! :D You rock. Thanks, Tina! The judges all had helpful comments and pointed out things I hadn't noticed, usually because I created the characters so I see them through those 'lenses'.

And Seekers, re: KAV... Don't you just LOVE librarians?? Especially reference librarians? We have a kids' book called 'The Boy Who Was Raised By Librarians' that really shows you what that breed is all about. :)